Gopro HD 2 or 3? - Which camera do people recommend?

Dream911 · 19 Jul 2013

Which model / make camera are people using for their car videos?

Was going to buy the Gopro 2 motorsport pack c£280 off amazon but see there is a gopro 3 out.

I assume I need all the mounting that come in the motorsport pack?

Anything else required such as memory card and external mic or am i good to go with just the motorsport pack?

cheers

Spy · 19 Jul 2013

Personally, I have the Go Pro Hero3 Black edition but to be honest, a Hero2 or Hero 3 will both do the job.

The Hero 3 comes in 3 versions:
White - I believe this is similar to the Hero 1 but with built-in wifi
Silver - exactly the same as Hero 2 except with built-in WiFi
Black - top of the range with sharper lens, more shooting options up to 4k

For car stuff, all you need is a standard pack GoPro (that comes with the waterproof housing) and a suction mount (http://gopro.com/camera-mounts/suction-cup)

All GoPros have a mic built-in but they are not great.

If you are mounting inside the car, you may find this frame (http://gopro.com/camera-mounts/the-frame) useful as it means you do not have to use the waterproof housing and therefore get better sound.

Unless you get a deal for a free SD card, you will also need an SD card. A class 10 30Mb/sec card should be fine

Dream911 · 19 Jul 2013

Cheers mate.

I presume with built in Wifi I can just copy the files over to my PC without the need for a cable?

Spy · 19 Jul 2013

Dream911 said:
Cheers mate.

I presume with built in Wifi I can just copy the files over to my PC without the need for a cable?

I haven't tried that yet, in fact I haven't used the built-in wifi at all yet as it drains the battery. I always just use the cable and transfer the files over.

The downside with these little cameras is the battery life which is about 1h 35m of video capture. I have just bought a spare third party battery to allow capture of video on longer trips.

I have a 16Gb card and it is large enough to hold 720p video for one battery.

chimp911 · 19 Jul 2013

I bought myself a hero 3 after seeing PeterS' fab Alpine footage taken on his hero 2 last year.

The wifi function is mainly to enable remote control of the camera. Hero 3 black comes with a remote or you can buy one seperately. There is also an official app for iPhones/iPads that allow remote control and you can preview/view footage too - works pretty well :thumb:

The hero 3 is a little smaller than the 2, so not all accessories are compatible. The 3 also allows you to film while charging the battery which you couldn't with the older model.

I can also recommend the frame for in car recording as it gives the small internal microphones more of a fighting chance over the waterproof case.

Finally, the 3 only takes microSD cards whereas the others take regular SD cards...

I'd say the newer 3 is your best bet, but the 2 represents pretty good value for a very capable camera :thumb:

Disco · 19 Jul 2013

The 3 is the one to get, but their are a laundry list of caveats about it...
Firstly - it runs very hot and it is not unknown (particularly if fully enclosed rather than in the frame or skeleton enclosures and in a hot car) for it to overheat and turn itself off.
Secondly, the black edition supports high frame rates, however - not all uSDXC cards are up to the job of writing fast enough to them. The supposed class 10 Sandisks that I have (not a brand that I have ever had trouble with before) give up and halt recording at around 10 minutes at 48fps and 2 and a half minutes at 60fps. According to the specs they should be fast enough, but they aren't. It took a while to work out what was going on with that. At 30fps there is no issue.
Thirdly - the battery is weak. Shooting 1080p30 it will be completely drained in around an hour. Use of the battery backpac that is available reportedly doesn't help with the overheating situation. Aftermarket batteries can get you a few extra minutes run time for a few less pounds of spend.

On the other hand - the picture quality is excellent, it is small, light, you can use your iPhone as a preview screen when setting it up and to configure it fully and all things considered it isn't bad value. With all of this considered though - the silver edition is probably the one that you want - a smidgeon over £200 delivered from some UK based suppliers on eBay (likely grey imports but do you care). All you lose is the high frame rates that call for expensive memory cards and maybe a tiny amount of image quality.

The white edition only makes sense if you buy in the US and use as a secondary camera for inset footage - the IQ is the same as the Hero 1 and while okay is a step down from the black and silver.

The frame is absurdly priced, but check eBay for 3rd party knock offs that are now available to save a few quid.

TDOs don't like suction mounts, but sticking one of the adhesive ones to the windscreen behind your rear view mirror is a sound solution.

Senoj · 19 Jul 2013

I have two of the hero 3 silvers, with the wireless on it eats the battery but it is really handy for turning on and off remotely if you have the r/c too obviously. The problem with that though is the battery life on the r/c is pretty crap too.

Another issue, solveable, is that it starts a new file at 2gb intervals so after ten mins of vid you have to join the files in your editor.

Good results tho, quality is great, just a bit of a faff with the battery life as you never know quite when its going to run out but it certainly will! :lol:

Clanky · 21 Jul 2013

+1 on the hero 3.

Superb quality, although it came pre set to the highest quality, & I had problems with jerky footage.

Now I put it down to my computers not being able cope with the frame rate or HD video.
Reading the previous posts, it may have been down to the actual card.

On the other hand the WIFI app on the phone is excellent for setting up the camera so you see exactly what its looking at.

More so if it's on a helmet mount etc.

JAD · 22 Jul 2013

Maybe take a look at the Blackvue range of cameras too.

They aren't as well known but a couple of people on here use them and they don't have the same battery issues of the go pro.

I've got the HD v2 and have been quite impressed but it's the first in car camera I've had so not really got anything to compare it to. It has a parking mode where it automatically detects movement and starts recording (good for car park incidents). There is also a gps feature to sync the footage with a map and give speed and timestamp (can be turned off if desired). Records onto micro sd which you can watch on pc or phone.

There is a microphone too but not great.

JAD · 22 Jul 2013

Double post. :frustrated:

Motoberg · 9 Oct 2014

Garmin VIRB Elite is worth a look.
I have a helmet mount for skiing and the video quality is excellent
:thumbs:

chimp911 · 9 Oct 2014

GoPro Hero 4 is now being advertised as the latest and greatest tool for budding cinematographers...

http://shop.gopro.com/cameras

Seems we are going the way of iPhone with their annual must have upgrades.. :roll:

Disco · 9 Oct 2014

chimp911 said:
GoPro Hero 4 is now being advertised as the latest and greatest tool for budding cinematographers...

http://shop.gopro.com/cameras

Seems we are going the way of iPhone with their annual must have upgrades.. :roll:

True, but that also means that the 3+ black can now be had for £259 and the 3+ silver at £199... (not grey import either).

isysman · 9 Oct 2014

If you are just shooting standard road video then you should take a look at the SJ4000 on ebay. Looks and behaves pretty much the same as a GoPro and can even be used with GoPro equipment as it uses the same fittings.

They are only £59!!!!

Disco · 10 Oct 2014

isysman said:
If you are just shooting standard road video then you should take a look at the SJ4000 on ebay. Looks and behaves pretty much the same as a GoPro and can even be used with GoPro equipment as it uses the same fittings.

They are only £59!!!!

GoPro themselves now offer a branded equivalent for £99 if you don't want the high end features like remote control/preview on your phone.

Gopro HD 2 or 3? - Which camera do people recommend?

Dream911

Magny-Cours

Spy

Nurburgring

Dream911

Magny-Cours

Spy

Nurburgring

chimp911

Zandvoort

Disco

Portimao

Senoj

Zandvoort

Clanky

Suzuka

JAD

Nurburgring

JAD

Nurburgring

Motoberg

Nurburgring

chimp911

Zandvoort

Disco

Portimao

isysman

Daytona

Disco

Portimao

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